Gin Rickey

The Gin Rickey is rumored to be named for a Colonel Joseph Kyle Rickey, an English officer once based in Washington, D.C., although others claim the seaside resort community of Wildwood, New Jersey is its true origin.

It's appallingly simple to fix:

• 2 oz. gin
• Juice of 1 lime
• Club soda
• Lime wedge for garnish

Fill a highball glass with ice, pour the gin and lime juice over the ice, top with club soda, and garnish with a lime wedge.

Esquire says, "Don't let anybody convince you to put sugar in this", but you know, a touch of simple syrup really can't hurt. It need not be mega-sweet and cloying like a Lemon Drop, but sometimes a Rickey can benefit from that slight accouplement avec du sucre.

And what kind of gin? Well, I prefer Hendrick's because of its complicated cucumberly nuances, but your results may vary.

Le Marie Sanglante

Me, I like my Bloody Mary to be nice n' spicy, and Cholula is my choice for kicking up a mundane mary:

• 1.5 oz. (30-45 ml) vodka
• Fill glass with tomato juice
• 1 dash celery salt
• 2-4 dashes ground black pepper
• 2-4 dashes Cholula
• 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Dash lime juice

Shake vigorously. Pour in a Highball glass filled with ice. Then garnish with:

• 1 spicy pickle spear

(That's how they do at the Chick Inn, one of my fave L-ville riverside watering holes.)

The Old Fashioned

You can learn more about the history of this toothsome treat by clicking here on the official blog of the Old Order of Transylvanian Gentlemen, and see variant recipes as well. But here's my version:

2 oz bourbon whiskey
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 splash Perrier
1 tsp sugar
1 maraschino cherry
1 orange wedge

Mix sugar, Perrier water and Angostura bitters, and pour into an old-fashioned glass. Drop in a cherry and muddle it. Then add the orange wedge - do not muddle the orange. Add ice cubes, then pour on the bourbon. Stir gently if you like, but I prefer to just layer on the bourbon and let it seek its own level.

Welcome!

Broadcasting live from the Voraxium Lounge, it's me, your host, Jeffrey Scott Holland, bringing you the latest culinary and liquidary experiments from my Appalachian Voodoo research kitchens.